12 Steps to Sacred

We live in a world which appears to sell sin, all lies, for free.  But that is the biggest lie there is.

In truth those sins and lies sold to us as trinkets on our journey toward whatever our eternity may be have a hefty price tag.  And the number of trinkets we buy may well determine our individual eternities.

I have written a book entitled “12 Steps to Sacred“ precisely to address this journey and its ultimate destination.

The Devil’s Lies

The images we sometimes see in the media depicting the devil as a grinning ghoul salivating at the thought of claiming our souls is not far off.  John 8:44 says he is the father of lies.  This is  because he is always ready to sell us a litany of lies. One of his favorite lies is that we are hopeless losers.  We are incapable of good, much less holiness or sanctity.

The implications of this lie are two-fold. First, if we are doomed there is no point in even trying.  Second, we must not have the means available to us to avoid being doomed.

The devil will also try to sell us the lie that we must live in the past and obsess with the future.  He will convince us that we can only learn from the past by obsessing on it. He will add that we can only avoid doom in the future by obsessing with the future as well.  He will try to enslave us regretting the past and fearing the future to the exclusion of living in the present.

Another lie that the devil will try to sell us is that we can only get somewhere, and achieve anything, by being busy.  He will equate being busy with wrapping ourselves up in the noise of this world.  He will try to convince us that we can only get anywhere by being the squeaky wheel all the time, and by making a racket as often as possible. The devil will also try to convince us that winners make noise and speak up.  Losers, on the other hand, are quiet and winners walk all over them.

The evil one will also try to sell us the fable that success and happiness demands that we wrap ourselves up in the things, circumstances, values, and people of this world.  He will point out that seemingly successful and happy people have the best homes, cars, portfolios, and bling.  He will entice us to seek popularity, approval, and material things as treasures defining our success.  Being humble and simple, of course, are the marks of a loser in this line of thinking.

Avoiding Rejection

Once we are tightly wound up in the stuff and fluff of this world, we will define ourselves by how much of that stuff and fluff we have and how tightly wound we are.  Soon, we will become oblivious to sharing, much less sacrificing for anyone. Let others go get the stuff and fluff we have and earn it like we did!

Like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot, we will soon become fixated on avoiding falls and suffering.  We will see these realities of life as markers of failure.  We will try to avoid them at all costs.

This world and any attachment to this world make us obsessed with acceptance. Therefore rejection becomes a sign of failure.  However, the world rejected Christ also.  So we need to embrace rejection.

Society views perfection as a virtue.  But it is actually a misguided and distorted self-preoccupation. This is inconsistent with humility and the need for redemption we all have. We need to embrace human imperfection if we desire actual perfection through Christ’s grace.

Finally, the devil will push us to seek immediate gratification. He will push us to define importance and value solely on our own terms and parameters.  If I do not agree with it, it is wrong.  If I do not understand it, it is wrong.  If I was not expecting it, it is wrong.

Perhaps, we will even come to see surprises as somehow consequences of deviance, lack of planning and, by implication, failure itself.  Predictably, we will seek to avoid surprises and become very impatient about everything.  If we buy any combination of the above lies or any package deal of them, we will be preparing a one way ticket to the devil’s eternal hideaway.

God’s Truth

Each of the above lies has its corresponding truth given to us by a God Who is truth and love defined.  Consequently, we are not doomed, hopeless losers incapable of greatness.  Rather, we are potential saints destined for great holiness and an eternity with God. The talents and gifts that are already ours enable us to achieve sanctity.

We can learn from the past and plan for the future, but we must live in the present because God is in the present.  He is here waiting for us. The only way we can hear God is to constantly seek to be present with God in the present, not worrying about calendars and past slips.

God is present in the silence of our hearts and souls, not in the bells and whistles of this world.  So we must work hard to avoid and transcend the noise of this world.  We must detach ourselves from the chains of this world and remember that we cannot define ourselves by what we own but who we are.  We can certainly own things but we must not let things own us.

Humility and simplicity should be our goals.  We must avoid the obnoxious complexities of this world.  We must internalize a desire to share and grow that desire into a passion for sacrifice.

Falls and suffering are hard lessons from which we can grow.  But they have the potential to bring us closer to Christ and the cross.

As we grow in all of the above truths, we will increasingly care less about any rejection from this world, knowing that our true treasure lies in heaven not on this earth.  Finally, the more we grow in trust of God, the easier it will be for us to patiently let Him handle things and embrace surprise as what happens on the road to God.  We will not question why things happen to us but, rather, what we can learn from our stumbles and sufferings.  In short, we will grow in peace knowing that the sanctity that we are each called to is far greater and far more possible than we ever imagined possible.

If anyone wants to accompany me on this exploration of that destiny that God wants for each of us, I invite you to check out my book to find out what this is all about.